If you look at the relegation battle, it can be said to be hell.
Four matches of round 27 of “Hana Bank K League 1 2024” have ended. The four teams at the bottom of the standings finished their matches, but only Incheon United cried. Incheon faced off Hana Citizen in Daejeon, which was 1-1 right before the game ended, but lost to Gutek 1-2. Although Incheon lost, it remained in ninth place, but it is right to consider it a close ninth place.
Daejeon was smiling and ranked 10th. If the score was tied 1-1, Daejeon would have ranked 12th. It was because of Jeonbuk Hyundai Theater’s win. Jeonbuk won 2-1 with Kwon Chang-hoon’s miraculous goal at the 9th minute of extra time in the second half. It was actually a cross, but as the goal became a goal, Jeonbuk scored three more points as it defeated the Pohang Steelers 2-1. Since the game ended earlier than the match, the team escaped from the bottom, but as Daejeon won, it remained in the 12th place.
Daegu FC defeated Gimcheon Sangmu 3-0. It was the first victory in eight matches. Daegu, which had displayed disastrous performance during the seven-game winless period, changed its mood with a Cesinha goal after Oh Seung-hoon blocked Kim Dae-won’s penalty kick. Later, a politician added a goal and Cesinha scored a net to make it 3-0. Daegu ended the match with a landslide victory. It was a perfect victory to change the mood.
Then, the ranking table is as follows. As mentioned earlier, Incheon ranks ninth but is two points shorter than Jeonbuk, which ranks 12th. Daejeon and Daegu have the same score point as 27 points, but Daejeon has led the team in 10th place in terms of score difference. In the K League 1, priorities are judged by multiple points, not by difference between points. Losses are not important. Daejeon has 28 points and Daegu has 27 points. For your information, Incheon has 29 points and Jeonbuk has 33 points.
The difference in both points and points is very narrow. The last place can change for each round. The team in the 9th place may drop to 12th. It is exciting for a third party, but the officials and fans of each team feel like they are crossing the ice just before every game itself is broken. In the K League 1, the 12th place is automatically demoted, and the 11th and 10th places play a playoff against the K League 2 teams. In other words, 안전놀이터 only one of the four teams can finish the season without any chance of being demoted.
In the past, there were cases where some lower-ranking teams descended to fight for relegation, but it can be said that there have been few cases where four teams compete so narrowly at the 27th round. It is truly an all-time remaining competition.
In the next game, Incheon and Jeonbuk will meet, and Daejeon will face Gimcheon. Daegu’s opponent is Pohang, which has lost three consecutive games. The results of Incheon and Jeonbuk are as important as the results of their games for Daejeon and Daegu.